The Citizen Online - Columnists

Behind closed doors

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:04:18 -0400

Last week I wrote an article about divorce, “The Gift that Keeps on Taking.” I received two letters from women who took issue with me when I wrote, regarding marriage vows, “That’s one promise that must be kept.” I felt they had something to say. I have changed their names to protect their identities.

The four stages of conservative female abuse

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:03:20 -0400

There’s something about outspoken conservative women that drives the left mad. It’s a peculiar pathology I’ve reported on for more than 15 years, both as a witness and a target. Thus, the onset of Palin Derangement Syndrome in the media, Democratic circles and the cesspools of the blogosphere came as no surprise. They just can’t help themselves.

The moose is loose

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:02:32 -0400

It’s a nutty year, a crazy time in our national life, and I’ve decided to decide — you’ll be glad to hear this, John McCain — that the ostensibly nutty choice of Sarah Palin as running mate is nutty in all the right ways.

A knock or a boost?

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:01:00 -0400

Since Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter is not running for election this year, it is amazing how much the media has suddenly become obsessed with her. Her pregnancy not only made the front page of the New York Times, a printed announcement of her pregnancy stayed at the bottom of the television screen on CNN for what seemed to me to be about an hour or more.

Mary’s summer 2008

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:43:35 -0400

Sometimes I think I’m drafting new chapters in the book our daughter Mary will surely write some day. Others have made a living out of writing about adventures like hers. Why not us?

Fayette school bond issue of 2000

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:35:23 -0400

After the second defeat of the effort to raise the sales tax in Fayette to pay for new schools, on Sept. 21, 1999, those who were pushing for the extra sales tax were understandably frantic. They were once again condemned (as a matter of state law) to waiting at least a year before staging another such vote, and many were misinterpreting the voters’ message to mean people were against building new schools.

2 strangers are linked forever

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:34:01 -0400

Several years ago, an obituary in the Atlanta paper caught my eye and I clipped it out. I ran across it recently and, again as then, I found myself fascinated by how it summed up the man that died and what that summation says about our society.

A majority minority nation

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:13:27 -0400

A majority minority nation: that’s what the U.S. Census Bureau is projecting by the year 2042, according to new figures released last week.

Major media decide — Vote Obama

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:12:34 -0400

Lawyers call this a “declaration against interest.”

Washington Post ombudsperson Deborah Howell wrote a column in her own newspaper comparing the paper’s front-page coverage of Democratic nominee Barack Obama with that of Republican nominee John McCain.

The gift that keeps on taking

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:11:28 -0400

I was speaking with a pastor friend recently and he expressed concern that a couple in his congregation may be getting a divorce. I understand his consternation. I’m told that about half of all marriages, inside the church and out, end in divorce. My response to my friend was something like, “A bad divorce is infinitely worse than a troubled marriage.”

The senator who won’t go away

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:10:22 -0400

I might not have thought of this but for the anointing last weekend of Joe Biden as successor-designate to Dick Cheney — status to be confirmed, or disallowed, at the polls in November.

Cutlery impaired

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:50:44 -0400

When I was growing up, my dad told me more times than I could count, “Life’s just too short to worry about the little stuff. You only need to worry about big stuff.”

Anarchy on the Internet

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:48:27 -0400

The Internet provides vast amounts of information but it can also spread vast amounts of misinformation, or even deliberately misleading disinformation.

Is college worth it?

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:41:50 -0400

As parents pack their youngsters off to college, they might ask themselves whether it’s worth both the money they will spend and their children’s time. Dr. Marty Nemko has researched that question in an article aptly titled “America’s Most Over-rated Product: Higher Education (www.martynemko.com/articles/americas-most-overrated-product-higher-education_id1539).”

Loving like Molly

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:11:33 -0400

Years ago a reader scolded me for writing a column that made her sad. I promised her I’d warn her at the top if a column might get teary.